▪ I. pony, n.
(ˈpəʊnɪ)
Forms: 7–9 Sc. powny, 8 Sc. powney, -nie, 8–9 poney, 8– pony.
[Sc. powney, prob. (as suggested by Prof. Skeat, 1890):—*poulney, ad. OF. poulenet a little foal (1444 in Godef.), dim. of poulain, polain a foal, colt:—late L. pullānus, f. L. pullus young animal, foal: see poleyn. (Examples of an earlier spelling in poul- or pol- are wanted to make the origin certain.)]
1. a. A horse of any small breed; spec. a horse not more than 13 or (in popular use) 14 hands high.
| 1659 MS. (Scot.) Diary in N. & Q. 6th Ser. VII. 163/1, I caused bring home the powny & stugged him. 1710 Acc. Last Distemper T. Whigg ii. 19 Union Ponies, a Kind of Horses foaled upon the Borders, and occasionally owning either Country. 1730–6 Bailey (folio), Pony, a little Scotch horse. 1751 Holcroft Mem. (1816) I. 6 He had a beautiful poney (at least so he called, and so I thought it). a 1774 Fergusson Rising of Session Poems (1845) 28 The powney that in spring-time grazes Thrives a' the year. 1781 Cowper Retirement 467 To cross his ambling pony day by day, Seems at the best but dreaming life away. 1785 Burns Epist. to J. Lapraik 21 Apr. i, While..pownies reek in pleugh or braik. 1789 Bath Jrnl. 22 June Advt., Stolen or stray'd..A Black Poney, about thirteen hands high. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 384/2 The ‘Shetland pony’ is now well known..These diminutive horses..are only from nine to eleven hands high. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes v, Clive..much preferred poneys to ride. 1902 Badminton Mag. XV. 699 A pony, I find it stated, is strictly applicable to an animal under 13 hands; above 13 and up to 13–3 the creature should be known as a galloway, and over 13–3 it becomes a horse. This, however, is not the modern interpretation... I should be inclined to say that in general parlance anything under 14 hands is a pony. |
b. A race-horse. Usu.
pl. slang (chiefly
U.S.).
| 1907 J. London in Cosmopolitan May 17/2, I had been out to the race-track watching the ponies run. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §731/1 Race horse.., pony. a 1953 E. O'Neill Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) i. 21 If it takes my snoring to make you remember Shakespeare instead of the dope sheet on the ponies, I hope I'll keep on with it. 1958 [see play v. 21 d]. 1961 Dallas Morning News 17 Feb. i. 5 Rep. Berry, an ex-gambler from San Antonio, got elected on his advocacy of betting on the ponies. |
2. slang. The sum of twenty-five pounds sterling.
| 1797 M. Robinson Walsingham II. 97 There is no touching her even for a poney. [Note. Half a rouleau or twenty-five guineas.] 1824 Scott St. Ronan's v, ‘Done, for a poney,..’, said the Squire. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iii. (1889) 26 Well done, Jack,..you've saved your master a pony this fine morning. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Mar. 6/3 Mr. Kisch said the bets were two ponies. The Master of the Rolls: What? Two what? Mr. Kisch said a pony was {pstlg}25. 1928 D. Byrne Destiny Bay vii. 318 It would have to be done very carefully,..in ponies and fifties and hundreds. 1958 Times 18 Feb. 5/1 Heath said that for a ‘pony’ ({pstlg}25) he would see what could be done. 1966 B. Naughton Alfie xxix. 188 ‘A pony is neither here nor there to me,’ I said. ‘It's just that I want to give somebody something.’ 1976 J. O'Connor Eleventh Commandment xiv. 178 ‘Bet you the next three guys that come by do that,’ he said. ‘Make it a pony ({pstlg}25),’ said Charlie. |
3. a. U.S. slang. A literal translation of a classical text, for the use of learners; a school or college ‘crib’:
cf. horse n. 13. Also
transf. (see
quot. 1977).
| 1827 Harvard Reg. Sept. 194 I'll tell you what I mean to do. Leave off my lazy habits..and stick to the law, Tom, without a Poney. 1832 Tour through College 30 (Farmer), Their lexicons, ponies, and text-books were strewed round their lamps on the table. 1893 W. W. Goodwin in Classical Rev. Apr. 162/1 A ‘crib’ or ‘pony’ to help them to learn their Greek lessons without the aid of dictionary and grammar. 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xviii. 182 She kept the dates written down in her Latin ‘pony’. 1952 G. Sarton Hist. Sci. I. iii. 89 The tablets were used not so much for study as for recapitulation and remembrance, like cribs or ponies. 1972 Catholic Biblical Q. Jan. 93 The Hebrew syntax is ‘Akkadianized’... The result is that the book provides an excellent ‘pony’ for the student who is weak in Akkadian. 1977 Sounds 9 July 22/2 After leaving college his vaguely literary ambitions found him earning a living by turning out ‘ponies’, the Stateside word for those little revision booklets English (or US, in this case) Lit. students buy when they haven't read, say, ‘Bleak House’ and there's an exam tomorrow morning. |
b. U.S. Used
attrib. to designate an abridged news report or the service whereby such reports are supplied to particular news agencies.
The service has appar. been discontinued.
| 1877 Harper's Mag. Dec. 57/1 Condensed abstracts, known as ‘pony’ reports, are made and forwarded to smaller towns. 1909 Census Bull. (U.S.) No. 216. 67 Besides the full reports delivered to large papers are the ‘pony’ reports—condensations of the full reports, sold at a cheaper rate. 1915 G. M. Hyde Newspaper Editing vi. 199 Certain members, too small to be full members [of the Associated Press], receive a daily ‘pony’ service—a condensed version of the world's news to the extent of a few hundred or few thousand words—and pay proportionately. 1923 M. V. Atwood Country Newspaper 133 The writer wonders if it may not be that the country daily..furnishing a reasonably adequate service of telegraph news through a ‘pony’ service..may not become of increasing importance. 1931 C. E. Rogers Journalistic Vocations iii. 57 The United Press developed the use of the telephone for delivering abbreviated news reports—P.N.T. (public news transmission) or pony service. Ibid. 61 There are shorter leased wire reports, too, and pony reports. 1942 Radder & Stempel Newspaper Editing, Make-up & Headlines (ed. 2) vii. 125 Such reports, known as pony calls, usually amount to only 15 minutes of service (1,000 to 1,500 words) once or twice a day. The pony service still is used by a number of smaller newspapers, and some rely on a bulletin service or pony service by telegraph. |
4. slang. a. A small glass or measure of liquor.
| 1849 G. G. Foster N.Y. in Slices 81 The game is kept up, mollified now and then by a choice swig at the ‘poney’. 1884 U.S. Newspaper, A ‘Pony’..in America a glass of beer. 1885 New York Jrnl. Aug. (Farmer), A pony of beer. 1896 Omaha Daily Bee (U.S.) 18 Feb. 4/7 A couple of ponies of brandy. 1896 N.B. Daily Mail 7 Apr. 2 The pony, another Glasgow beer measure, contained 9-10ths of an imperial gill of beer. 1943 Harper's Mag. Dec. 44/2 Dr. Stuker rapidly downed two ponies of brandy. 1959 G. Hamilton Summer Glare 155 Os pulled a beer each for me and Tommy, and a pony for himself. He always drank small beers. 1966 [see pot n.1 3]. |
b. A small chorus girl or dancer.
| 1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl 118, I went into the pony ballet of a LaSalle Theatre show—can you see me as a pony? 1920 [see drag n. 7 f]. 1930 Daily Express 23 May 10/5 We have what are known in stage parlance as ‘ponies’—a troupe of girls, ages ranging from sixteen to twenty-three or four. 1948 Sat. Even. Post 3 July 63/2 In the chorus of ponies—the smallest sized dancers—there was a pert redhead named Gracie Barrett. 1950 Blesh & Janis They all played Ragtime (1958) ix. 180 The music that follows is a ‘rush-on’ of the period, so called because it was the cue for the high-stepping, brown-skinned ‘ponies’ to get out on the stage. |
5. A name of
Tecoma serratifolia (family Bignoniaceæ), a small tree of the West Indies.
| 1866 in Treas. Bot. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Tecoma serratifolia, ‘Pony’, Saw-leaved Trumpet-flower. |
6. A dance originating in the
U.S. and popular in the early 1960s.
| 1963 N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Oct. 104/2 That brings us to our own young and the Twist, the Pony, the Slop, the Mashed Potato. 1968 M. & J. Stearns Jazz Dance i. 5 The Pony employed bits of the Slow Drag. 1969 N. Cohn AWopBopaLooBop (1970) ix. 85 Dance crazes bossed pop right up until the Beatles broke. There was the Hully Gully, the Madison, the Fly, the Pony [etc.]. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. General, as
pony-back (
cf. horseback),
pony-boy,
pony-carriage,
pony-cart,
pony-chair,
pony-chaise,
pony-girl,
pony-horse,
pony-man,
pony-mare,
pony-pack,
pony-phaeton,
pony race,
pony ride,
pony-sled,
pony-track,
pony-trap;
pony-buyer,
pony-buying,
pony-catcher,
pony-catching,
pony-hunter,
pony-hunting,
pony-penning,
pony-racing,
pony-rearer;
pony-rider,
pony-riding,
pony-mounted adj.; (in sense 2)
pony point; see also sense 3 b.
b. Special combs. (often in names of things that are small of their kind):
pony club, a club founded in 1929 and now run by the British Horse Society for young people with ponies; hence as
v. trans. (chiefly
pass.) to enter (a pony) for a pony club competition;
pony clubber, a member of a pony club;
pony clubbing, participating in pony club activities; the pony club movement;
pony-engine, a small locomotive for shunting;
pony express, a postal agency using relays of ponies for the transmission of mails, etc.; also
attrib.;
pony-glass, a small glass holding a pony (sense 4);
pony post = pony express;
pony-purse,
pony-putter, see
quots.;
pony-skin, the (dressed) hide of a pony; also
attrib.;
pony-tail, a hair-style in which the hair is gathered back through a band or other fastening to resemble the shape of the tail of a horse or pony (
cf. horse-tail 1 c); also
attrib.; hence
pony-tailed adj.;
pony-trekking, pony-riding for long distances across country,
esp. as undertaken as a group holiday activity; hence
pony-trekker;
pony-truck, a two-wheeled leading or trailing truck in some forms of locomotive;
pony-truss, a truss so low that overhead bracing cannot be used (Webster 1890).
| 1813 Examiner 26 Apr. 265/1 A well-known quack..appeared on *poney-back. 1859 Lang Wand. India 401 We commenced the ascent on ponyback. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 16 Feb. 5/1 Murten..is employed as a *pony-boy in the Woolley Colliery, Barnsley. 1946 B. Naughton (title) Pony boy. |
| 1831 M. Edgeworth Let. 11 Apr. (1971) 520 Dr. Fitton in the *pony carriage behind me was giving..another derivation to Fanny from the German. 1870 Geo. Eliot Jrnl. 26 May in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1956) V. 100 Mrs. Pattison took me a drive in her little pony carriage. 1905 ‘P. Pennington’ Woman Rice Planter (1913) iv. 150, I sent Chloe to Gregory in the pony carriage, and she brought back the money. |
| 1823 Blackw. Mag. XIV. 510 Holborn and Snow Hill are crowded with *pony-carts. |
| 1827 T. Hamilton Youth & Manhood C. Thornton I. xvi. 282 Mr Pynsent with some difficulty did so, pleading an engagement to drive Lady Amersham in her *pony-chair. 1880 Disraeli Endym. xi, The only things she cared for in the country were a hall and a pony-chair. |
| 1831 Disraeli Yng. Duke I. ii. x. 239 A *pony-chaise was Lady Faulconcourt's delight. |
| 1852 Miss Mitford Recoll. I. 301 The place in the pony-chaise..was found vacant. 1900 E. Glyn Visits Elizabeth (1906) 81 One of those old-fashioned, very low pony-shays, with a seat up behind for the groom. |
| 1929 Horse I. 60 The *Pony Club..has been inaugurated for the purpose of interesting young people in riding and sport. 1936 A. Thirkell August Folly ii. 50 Pony Clubs! No pony clubs when I was young. You got on and you fell off, and there you were. 1941 M. Treadgold We couldn't leave Dinah iii. 50 Pony club members and their guests were sedately walking their ponies round and round the lawn. 1972 J. McClure Caterpillar Cop i. 12 ‘You're strong,’ he murmured. ‘Riding,’ she said, ‘I'm in the pony club.’ |
| 1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 63/1 (Advt.), Moonmaster... Very pretty strawberry roan gelding. 10 yrs. Leading rein, gymkhanaed, *Pony Clubbed. Good in traffic. 1977 Ibid. 14 Jan. 40/2 (Advt.), Gelding... He jumps well, has hunted, and been Pony Clubbed etc. |
| 1970 J. Campbell World of Ponies 127 (caption) Australian *Pony Clubbers are always sure of good weather for their outdoor activities. 1977 Horse & Hound 14 Jan. 33/2 Always a keen ‘pony clubber’, Alison has competed in numerous inter⁓branch competitions. |
| 1970 J. Campbell World of Ponies 125 It has been the ponies of all breeds, cross-breeds, shapes and sizes, that have made *Pony Clubbing. 1977 Horse & Hound 14 Jan. 46/3 (Advt.), Four children 3–9, 4 ponies, 1 horse. Pony Clubbing, showing etc. |
| 1864 Webster, *Pony-engine. |
| 1847 N.Y. Weekly Tribune 18 Dec. 4/5 By our *Pony Express from the South, we have intelligence from New Orleans to the afternoon of the 2d. 1860 San Francisco National 19 Mar. 2/3 The Central Overland Pony Express Co. will start their Letter Express from San Francisco to New York and intermediate points, on Tuesday, the 3rd day of April next. 1861 Illustr. Lond. News 12 Oct. 386 The American Pony Express, en route from the Missouri River to San Francisco. 1886 Kansas Hist. Coll. III. 395, I was present when the first fleet horse of the pony express started. 1894 Daily News 1 Oct. 5/5 The pony express from Pekin brought the Viceroy many despatches. 1948 Chicago Daily News 26 Aug. 4/1 St. Joseph, Mo... The original Pony Express stable was put up for sale for $442.32 but no one bid on it. 1976 Times 23 July 11/6 Buffalo Bill Cody..had been in turn horse wrangler, pony express rider, unlucky prospector, [etc.]. |
| 1889 T. A. Guthrie Pariah vi. i, I'm not a horsewoman yet. If I'm anything, I'm a *pony-girl. |
| 1880 Barman's Man. 58 Fill the *pony-glass with Sasarac. |
| 1900 Geogr. Jrnl. XV. 563 Group of Astor *pony-men at Lob jungle. 1968 Economist 10 Aug. 45/1 Four ponies need four pony⁓men which adds another {pstlg}10 a day to the bill. 1971 Daily Tel. 10 June 9/3 The future livelihood of ghillies, stalkers, gamekeepers and ponymen is threatened by the ‘punitive’ proposed rating reassessments of estates with sporting facilities, the Scottish Landowners' Federation claims. |
| 1932 Sun (Baltimore) 27 July 4/3 *Pony-penning has attracted thousands to the island. 1958 Washington Post 30 July a 24/1 The pony penning dates back to 1835 but the firemen took it over in 1924 as their fund raising project. |
| 1799 Malthus Diary 1 July (1966) 109 Mr A had insisted on our taking his small *poney phaeton. 1838 Lytton Alice iii. vii, Do..come..and look at my pony-phaeton. |
| 1892 M. Williams Round London (1893) 202 He plays whist at his club for *pony (twenty-five pound) points. |
| 1893 M. H. Cushing Story of our Post Office 420 Before railroads led to every part of the country the only communication was by *pony post. 1901 W. Churchill Crisis ii. vii. 178 Three-weeks letters from San Francisco, come by the pony post to Lexington. |
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Pony-purse, a subscription collected upon the spot, or from a few persons. |
| 1883 Gresley Coal Mining Gloss., *Pony-putter, a boy who drives a pony in the workings. |
| 1765 J. Woodforde Diary 27 May (1924) I. 47 After dinner Jack went to Wincanton to a *Pony Race. 1824 J. Decastro Mem. 155 The pony races were brought out, and they had a more than usual run for a whole season. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 29 July 20/6 The spectators stayed on for the day-long program of pony sales..pony races..and band concerts. |
| 1827 W. Clarke Every Night Bk. 174 Furnishes a neat stud for *poney racing. 1943 Sporting Life 12 July 5 Pony racing will have an eager Turf Authority, a second-to-none race course at its disposal, and cash in the bank. 1969 Pony Sept. 57/2 Two centuries ago..Charles O'Neill..established a pony-racing event on Broughshane race-course, near Ballymena. |
| 1819 M. Edgeworth Let. 17 Apr. (1971) 200 She has just come in from her *poney ride. 1840 C. Fox Jrnl. 16 Feb. (1972) 67 They joined Mamma and Anna Maria in a pony ride. |
| 1871 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 62 Stretching our necks and watching for the *pony-rider. 1975 Country Life 13 Feb. 393/1 Pony riders will have to keep on to the country lanes. |
| 1949 R. Colville (title) *Pony riding. |
| 1908 Daily Chron. 26 Dec. 3/4 Among the novelties are the *pony-skin suits. 1960 Times 26 Sept. 17/2 In Mongolian ponyskin..it [sc. a coat] is very hard-wearing. 1971 ‘A. Burgess’ MF viii. 94 The upholstery was black-and-white ponyskin. 1976 ‘J. Ross’ I know what it's like to Die xvi. 102 Your lady⁓friend with the ponyskin coat. |
| 1872 Trollope Eustace Diamonds (1873) II. xxxiv. 100 ‘How a man can like to kiss a face with a dirty horse's tail all whizzling about it...’ ‘I haven't even a *pony's tail,’ said Lucy. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 23 Feb. 2 The panel of high-school boys and girls discusses the latest teen-age fashions, including..the pony tail. 1954 J. Trench Dishonoured Bones iv. 150 She pulled her own hair back and fastened it into a pony-tail. 1957 New Yorker 16 Nov. 104/2 The young lady..was wearing a ponytail hairdo. 1971 M. Spark Not to Disturb iii. 88 She loosens her hair which has been pulled back, pony-tail style. 1975 New Yorker 28 Apr. 31/2 She, too, had her hair in a ponytail, held by a rubber band. 1977 Time 30 May 40/3 The counter-culture ponytail is gone, sacrificed to the heat of arena lights and the sizzling sweat of the fast-break pace. |
| 1956 Time 26 Mar. 72/2 *Pony⁓tailed Carol stood aside. 1958 S. Ellin Eighth Circle ii. i. 18 She bore the sallow-complexioned, nail-bitten, pony⁓tailed earmarks of adolescence. 1974 Times 14 Nov. 16/6 A bearded, pony-tailed, 42-year-old..is not everyone's idea of a nanny-raised child. |
| 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 149 To the left will be seen a *pony-track which winds over the hill to Watendlath. |
| 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life I. 85 To sit in my *pony-trap. |
| 1972 Guardian 3 July 7/3 Pathways were being worn down by *pony-trekkers and others. |
| 1959 Sunday Times 8 Mar. 20/1 Golf, Tennis, Fishing, Ballroom, *Pony-trekking, Dinghy sailing. Ibid. 29 Mar. 18/1 Guided pony-trekking is a fine way to explore wild country in the company of other adventure-seekers. 1962 Times 21 Apr. 11/3 Over the past few years..great has been the demand for pony-trekking holidays. 1971 New Yorker 27 Feb. 21/1 (Advt.), Come to Ireland. Go pony-trekking through Macgillycuddy's Reeks. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Pony Truck, a truck with a single pair of wheels. |
▪ II. pony, v. U.S. slang. (
ˈpəʊnɪ)
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. and intr. To pay
up, settle
up.
| 1824 Atlantic Mag. I. 343 Every man..vociferously swore that he had ponied up his ‘quarter’. 1894 Stead If Christ came to Chicago 367 ‘Pony up or we will run you in’ is the formula. 1903 Architect Suppl. 24 Apr. 28/2 To-day a walking delegate told him he would have to pony up 10 dols. if he wanted to stay on the job. |
2. a. trans. and intr. To prepare (lessons) by means of a pony or crib.
| 1852 Yale Tomahawk May (Bartlett), We learn that they do not pony their lessons. 1847 in W. G. Hammond Remembrance of Amherst (1946) 153 The others are ponying most unmercifully. c 1853 in Root & Lombard Songs of Yale 23 If you poney he will see. |
b. trans. To give extra tuition to.
rare.
| 1865 Harper's Mag. July 213/2 A classmate, whom..I had ponied through term after term, in Latin, Greek, and mathematics. 1908 W. G. Davenport Butte & Montana 134 It were a hundred times better to teach the average boy how to build a fence..than to..‘pony’ his way through three or four years of Latin. |